Sunday, June 10, 2012

TULIP LADYBUG Venetian Glass Murano Silver Coin $20 Canada Mint 2011

This is the first coin ever to be embellished with Venetian glass, a
world-renowned glass prized for its clarity and extremely vibrant
colours.

Each glass ladybug was handcrafted by a master-glassmaker in
Murano, Italy. They combined Venetian glass with a unique coloured
design to deliver a coin that boasts new and unrivalled dimension.
Crafted to perfection, each is an eye-catching work of art.

Ladybug

Coccinellidae
is a family of beetles, known variously as ladybirds (UK, Ireland,
Australia, Pakistan, South Africa, New Zealand, India, Malta, some parts
of Canada and the US), or ladybugs (North America). Scientists
increasingly prefer the names ladybird beetles or lady beetles as these
insects are not true bugs.

Lesser-used names include ladyclock, lady
cow, and lady fly. Coccinellids are small insects, ranging from 1 mm to
10 mm (0.04 to 0.4 inches), and are commonly yellow, orange, or scarlet
with small black spots on their wing covers, with black legs, head and
antennae. A very large number of coccinellid species are mostly, or
entirely, black, grey, or brown and may be difficult for
non-entomologists to recognize as coccinellids.

Conversely, there are
many small beetles that are easily mistaken for coccinellids, such as
the tortoise beetles. Coccinellids are found worldwide, with over 5,000
species described, more than 450 native to North America alone. A few
species are considered pests in North America and Europe, but they are
generally considered useful insects as many species feed on aphids or
scale insects, which are pests in gardens, agricultural fields,
orchards, and similar places. Harmonia axyridis (or the Harlequin
ladybug) was introduced into North America from Asia in 1988 to control
aphids but is now the most common species as it is out-competing many of
the native species. A common myth is that the number of spots on the
insect's back indicates its age.

TulipThe tulip is a perennial, bulbous plant
with showy flowers in the genus Tulipa, which comprises 109 species.
Tulips are spring-blooming perennials that grow from bulbs. The tulip's
large flowers usually bloom on scapes or subscapose[further explanation
needed] stems that lack bracts. Most tulips produce only one flower per
stem, but a few species bear multiple flowers on their scapes. The
showy, generally cup- or star-shaped tulip flower has three petals and
three sepals, which are often termed tepals because they are nearly
identical. These six tepals are often marked near the bases with darker
colorings. Tulip flowers come in a wide variety of colors, except pure
blue (several tulips with "blue" in the name have a faint violet hue).

Tulip stems have few leaves, with larger species tending to have
multiple leaves. Plants typically have 2 to 6 leaves, with some species
having up to 12. The tulip's leaf is strap-shaped, with a waxy coating,
and leaves are alternately arranged on the stem. These fleshy blades are
often bluish green in color. Although tulips are often associated with
The Netherlands, commercial cultivation of the flower began in the
Ottoman Empire.

The tulip, or lale as it is also called in Iran and
Turkey, is a flower indigenous to a vast area encompassing arid parts of
Africa, Asia, and Europe. The word tulip, which earlier appeared in
English in forms such as tulipa or tulipant, entered the language by way
of French tulipe and its obsolete form tulipan or by way of Modern
Latin tulipa, from Ottoman Turkish tülbend ("muslin" or "gauze"), and is
ultimately derived from Persian dulband ("turban").﻿